Teenage Iraqi refugees focus on a career in Damascus exercise

Poetry in Motion: A bicyclist caught by the lens of one of the young Iraqi photographers.

DAMASCUS, Syria, September 3 (UNHCR) – Threading his way through the streets of old Damascus, the bicyclist suddenly faced an unexpected obstacle – a group of energetic teenagers trying to capture movement on camera.

"Look, look what I got," an excited 17-year-old Samer shouted to his friends, before showing them the image of the passing biker captured on his digital camera. The group of young people laughed a lot as they shared their efforts, ranging from dire to excellent.

But this was not a game. Samer and his nine colleagues, aged 15-17, are Iraqi refugees and they were engaged in a course run by British photographers that could give them the skills to become a wage-earning photojournalist covering the fascinating and turbulent world around him.

"It is hard to get it right, but I am learning," the budding photojournalist Samer said, as Tom Saunderson and Guy Bower monitored their charges from a distance. Henderson and Bower, together with Tim Smyth, are behind New Exposure, the organization conducting the course.

The agency was set up to help find and provide hands-on tuition to young photojournalists who do not have easy access to equipment or training. New Exposure also hopes to develop the ability of local photojournalists to cover stories of global interest in their own countries and communities.

In Syria, they have just completed a four-week workshop with the 10 Iraqi refugees, who were chosen by the UN refugee agency for the training, part of a New Exposure project titled, "Berlin to Baghdad: Children of Conflict."

"It is fantastic to see the kids enjoying themselves, making friends and learning an art which can be useful later in their life," UNHCR outreach worker, Hussam Mukhtar, said, while noting that "many of them have fled Iraq out of fear, because their relatives were killed, kidnapped or threatened."

Saunderson, whose own work has appeared in a wide range of publications, said he was impressed by the work produced by the young Iraqis. "My initial impression of the project and students was very encouraging; their motivation, self confidence and will to learn was fantastic."

Under the Berlin to Baghdad project launched in May in Kosovo, New Exposure's photographers will be working with young people affected by conflict in countries along the route of the historic railway line between the German and Iraqi capitals.

"We decided to do this project in Syria with Iraqi refugees as it is an ongoing [news] story with a lot of controversy," Saunderson said, referring to the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who have fled to neighbouring Syria and are struggling to get by. UNHCR has registered refugees and provides aid.

New Exposure believes the lives of the Iraqis in Syria have not received enough coverage in mainstream media. Saunderson said the photojournalism course would give the participants the skills to express themselves and tell their stories themselves to a wider, global audience.

It should also provide a valuable source of income as they struggle to make ends meet far from home. Samer has missed out on an education because he has had to go out and work as an unskilled labourer since arriving in Syria in 2006. "My father left us in Iraq. Somebody had to take responsibility. There is no one else but me," he explained.

Samer saw the photo workshop as a big opportunity to break out of the spiral of poverty and do something interesting and positive. It also helped him make new friends and learn more about the place he is now living in.

New Exposure plans eventually to organize a travelling exhibition featuring photographs from the Berlin to Baghdad project, including those taken in Syria. A book may also be published.

We help refugees, refugee returnees and internally displaced people tap their potential and build a platform for a better future.

Teaching About Refugees, Art

Refugees contribute to the culture of their host community. Some are well-known artists, painters, poets or novelists. Dante Alighieri created the major part of his work during his exile. Playwright Bertold Brecht, authors Thomas Mann and Franz Kafka, poets Pablo Neruda and Jorge Semprun, musician Miguel Angel Estrellas, painters Lucian Freud and Remedios Varo - all suffered periods of exile which, in some cases, deeply colored their work. The theme of exile can be studied in literature, the history of music and art.

Crisis in Iraq: Displacement

UNHCR and its partners estimate that out of a total population of 26 million, some 1.9 million Iraqis are currently displaced internally and more than 2 million others have fled to nearby countries. While many people were displaced before 2003, increasing numbers of Iraqis are now fleeing escalating sectarian, ethnic and general violence. Since January 2006, UNHCR estimates that more than 800,000 Iraqis have been uprooted and that 40,000 to 50,000 continue to flee their homes every month. UNHCR anticipates there will be approximately 2.3 million internally displaced people within Iraq by the end of 2007. The refugee agency and its partners have provided emergency assistance, shelter and legal aid to displaced Iraqis where security has allowed.

In January 2007, UNHCR launched an initial appeal for US$60 million to fund its Iraq programme. Despite security issues for humanitarian workers inside the country, UNHCR and partners hope to continue helping up to 250,000 of the most vulnerable internally displaced Iraqis and their host communities

Posted on 12 June 2007

Crisis in Iraq: Displacement

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie returned to the Syrian capital Damascus on 2 October, 2009 to meet Iraqi refugees two years after her last visit. The award-winning American actress, accompanied by her partner Brad Pitt, took the opportunity to urge the international community not to forget the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees who remain in exile despite a relative improvement in the security situation in their homeland. Jolie said most Iraqi refugees cannot return to Iraq in view of the severe trauma they experienced there, the uncertainty linked to the coming Iraqi elections, the security issues and the lack of basic services. They will need continued support from the international community, she said. The Goodwill Ambassador visited the homes of two vulnerable Iraqi families in the Jaramana district of southern Damascus. She was particularly moved during a meeting with a woman from a religious minority who told Jolie how she was physically abused and her son tortured after being abducted earlier this year in Iraq and held for days. They decided to flee to Syria, which has been a generous host to refugees.

Angelina Jolie returns to Iraq, urges support for the displaced

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie returned to Iraq in July 2009 to offer support to the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who remain displaced within their own country.

During her day-long visit to Baghdad, UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie visited a makeshift settlement for internally displaced people in north-west Baghdad where she met families displaced from the district of Abu Ghraib, located to the west of Baghdad, and from the western suburbs of the capital.

Despite the difficulties in Iraq, Jolie said this was a moment of opportunity for Iraqis to rebuild their lives. "This is a moment where things seem to be improving on the ground, but Iraqis need a lot of support and help to rebuild their lives."

UNHCR estimates that 1.6 million Iraqis were internally displaced by a wave of sectarian warfare that erupted in February 2006 after the bombing of a mosque in the ancient city of Samarra. Almost 300,000 people have returned to their homes amid a general improvement in the security situation since mid-2008.

Angelina Jolie returns to Iraq, urges support for the displaced

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